A random hodge-podge of ministry opportunities! :)

After my last blog you may have been left wondering if anything GOOD had been happening on my trip.
Why yes, of course!
So, I'm extremely excited about this post! God is SO good & does things on a much bigger scale than I ever could have dreamed. What I consider "amazing" is lame in comparison to what He has in mind. It's fabulous just how great He is!
Amen? Amen!

The week I got sick, I had been at a kids camp. The days before my attack of illness *dun dun duhh* (haha) I got to spend time with some of the most beautiful children.

(-See? I wasn't kiddin'!)

I had the wonderful opportunity to help lead & teach! I taught on something God's been speaking to me a lot about... & that's obedience. So, naturally, I talked about the story of Jonah. I created this huge cardboard fish, (which... most of you know my severe lack of artistic ability!) got some costumes together & did a play with them. They all loved it! So much so that they took & hid the fish & wouldn't tell me where it was. haha. I guess I didn't do too bad of a job on it ;)
Getting to spend time with the kids was a blast. We went to the river & swam... we played hours upon hours of badminton (that sure does have a way of makin' you sore!) & we had a jolly good time, despite the language barrier. That's one thing I love about kids... it doesn't matter if you can't talk to someone.... a game of charades will ensue if necessary! Children have such pure, innocent hearts & they truly are like sponges... soaking up everything you say. Having to leave early was sad... having them run & hold onto you, begging you not to leave, was tough... but I know that I at least went & got to share the truth with them! That alone is enough to put my heart at peace.

The day that I got sick for the second time, I had gone to spend the weekend at an orphanage...but was unable to go due to getting sick, again. I had been sad over the fact that I wasn't able to go & spend time with all of the orphans... but it hadn't even dawned on me until now.

I did get to spend time with the orphans. The people I rode with to the baptism had recently, temporarily, taken in 3 adult orphans & were helping them to become established with jobs & apartments It wasn't quite what I had in mind, going & spending time with young orphans..., but I was able to spend all day with 30+ year old orphans & was able to minister & pour into them! So many times when we think of orphans we think of little children... but we usually forget that those kids grow up & are still orphans... they're still trying to make something of themselves & have the heartache of being parent less & not having a family. Spending time with them made me view things in a new way. You have to be a strong person to have gone through what they had & still desire to do something meaningful. They were like children in adult bodies & they were precious... I'm beyond thankful that God allowed me to meet them.

We all went to a water baptism together & that was a beautiful thing! Even though it was a 4 hour long service & I didn't understand ANYTHING that was said... seeing 10 people dressed in all white, with tears running down their faces being baptised & dedicating their lives to the Lord was something powerful, moving & completely universal. It didn't matter that I didn't know what they were saying... in my heart, I did. I could hear & see, fully, the love they had for God & no language barrier could stop that from being evident. I was moved to tears as each person would be submersed by the water & come up "like new". I will never forget that day... it will forever say with me.

Once I had recovered & was feeling better, I went to a church where they asked me, on the spot, to come up & speak in front of the whole church. I wanted to say no, to stand with feet firmly planted, to remain where I was & just be an observer... but I said yes, I stepped out in faith & spoke. I talked about the race we all run, as believers & unbelievers alike. Everyone is running a race, but as followers of Christ... we run to gain an eternal reward. The LORD is our strength & He helps us to endure all things... by keeping our gaze fixed on Him we are able to run with a purpose & for a worthy cause.
(1st Corinthians 9:24-27)

After speaking, the Pastor told me that I could go outside to help with the children...
little did I know that "helping" would consist of me completely running the children's ministry! Since I had recently prepared the Jonah lesson, I went ahead & taught that. The kids, once again, loved it & had a great time acting & learning. It's a bit nerve-racking being thrown into something like that last minute... but when you trust in God, things have a way of falling into place like they need to!

I've been doing a lot of speaking, praise God... He's opened many doors! I've spoken at several women's camps on purity & through giving my testimony/telling the amazing work God's done through my recent relationship with Brandon. After speaking at one of the camps, a lady in attendance asked me if I'd be interested in coming & speaking to some young ladies. I, of course, said yes! We tried our best to communicate & sort through details... but I guess I didn't fully understand because when I went to her house (Where I thought I'd be speaking to about 7 girls) to speak, she loaded us up in her car & we drove to one of the churches her husband preaches at. I ended up speaking to about 40 teens/adults on purity! They also had me lead worship!! Talk about God having a bigger vision than myself! I was amazed that He would give me the chance to share with so many people! That's only one of the many thing's He's done.

After leaving the speaking even Sunday evening... Monica (The Pastor's wife) told me I was going to church with them. I didn't really know what was going on most times... I just did whatever was asked of me. On the way to the OTHER church she tells me that they want me to lead a praise & worship song.. thinking it's be about the same as what I'd just done, I said "okay!" & was thrilled.
Then. We pulled up to a huge church... walked inside... & instead of about 40 people, I found over 400 people! *GULP*
My throat went dry, I'm not gonna lie... I was very nervous... I felt much fear. However, I knew that this was a God thing & He wanted me to be obedient. So, I prayed & prayed & prayed... &&& prayed... stepped up on the stage & began singing "Open the eyes of my heart".
I'm sure it wasn't the most flawless performance... I'm sure I didn't sound perfect... but I was worshipping God. I was singing praise to Him. How can you ever mess up when worshipping the Lord? :)

I went to another children's camp to minister, but that didn't really turn out how I thought it would either. I got there & only 3 people KIND OF spoke English! I couldn't really talk to anyone. But one thing I love is that a smile is understood everywhere. A hug is universal. Love is something that doesn't have to always be spoken... but it can be shown. I was able to show them the love of Christ through playing with them & spending time with them.
One funny thing- They loved my name, for some strange reason!, & would randomly walk around saying "Ty-Lor, Ty-Lor!". Ha! It didn't matter how many times I told them the correct pronunciation... they just never said it right... but I didn't mind, it was cute. ;)

I had planned on staying all week at that camp, but God had a different plan... a much bigger plan!
I was taking a nap during some free time we had at the camp on Tuesday... when I got a call from Monica. I, being asleep & groggy, just woke up, clicked the end button on the phone & went back to sleep. Out of nowhere I randomly woke up & God told me "Call Monica back. You're going to speak." It was as if He literally spoke to me. So, I called her back & sure enough... she wanted me to come speak at a youth camp an hour away from the kids camp I was at. Needing to to talk Gail, I told Monica that I would get back with her but would probably be free on Thursday.... next thing I know, I'm getting a call from Gail saying she'd pick me up in 20 minutes & that I was going to speak... TONIGHT.
I threw my things in my bag, prayed & was on my way.
When I arrived... I was asked to speak & lead some worship. There were about 40 teens there & I was nervous & excited!
I got up & asked the youth to sing to God even though they didn't know the words... but to my surprise... they did know the words! & they sang the songs in English as well! It was amazing being all the way in Romania, singing praise to the Lord in unison!
I then spoke & God completely showed up! He dropped things into my spirit & truly lead the entire session. I didn't get a chance to talk to many people afterwards... but I feel that what needed to be heard, was... & HE was seen throughout everything.

I went Wednesday night to lead a session for several young ladies....& once again, the group was bigger than I thought it'd be! Expecting around 5 or 6 girls... you can imagine my excitement when 12 ladies showed up! I was able to share the story of how Brandon & I entered into a relationship, how God 100% brought me the man of my prayers...& dreams, what exactly "Courtship" is (They'd never even heard of it!) & the amazing blessing that comes with waiting on God to write your love story. The girls were all blessed & filled with many questions... several of the girls actually had their master degrees, so they had very amazing questions, but God fully gave me the right answers!

I've been blessed time & time again by how good God is! He never ceases to amaze me!
I've not had the chance to speak to over about 200 people about purity & Jesus. Wow.
I'm now about to leave for another camp where I will be speaking & leading. Please keep me in your prayers as I step out, again, to share the truth.
I pray this has been a blessing, though it's been relatively brief.
I know I'm blessed & encouraged!
:)

-Taylor

p.s. in an attempt to get this posted before I leave for my next camp... I haven't read through it all... I'm posting my rough draft. A writing "no no".... but I'm desperate! So please show grace while reading it in case I've messed up on spelling or have been redundant! Thank you for your kindness :)

Stepping into my CREATED calling.

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting my blogs.
I'm terribly sorry for the delay, but in all honesty.. I've not really had it in me to post much.
Let me explain.

I guess I should start from the beginning.
When I was preparing for my trip to Romania, I was stoked! God had been revealing a lot to me, speaking prophecy to many people about the mighty things that would happen once I arrived, giving people visions, etc... So to say I was excited would be an understatement!
I left with this picture in my head that I would be going into churches, speaking, setting people free from many things they'd been bound to, watching healing take place, seeing many souls come to the Lord...
but instead of that, I found myself getting sick my first full week here while at a kids camp ministering. I went "home" to rest & got to feeling better by the next day... so I tried to step out & do some mission work again, I was going to an orphanage to stay & serve.... but during a water baptism I attended before leaving for the orphanage, I got horribly sick again & had to return "home".
By this time, I was extremely discouraged. Nothing seemed to be going right.
Every time I stepped out to do something for the Lord, I became physically ill.
That upcoming Sunday I was better & decided to go to church. I felt fine, Praise God!, & ended up leading the children's program! (I'll post a happier blog on all of the many wonderful things God has done/is doing!)
The day was going well until I ended up going with a Pastor & 3 other guys to do some sight seeing... Everything was a big jumbled up mess & the woman/family that I thought were going too ended up NOT being able to go, so there I was... with a bunch of smelly guys.(Very smelly, might I add. haha)
To make a long story short, one of the guys (though I think he started out playfully) ended up putting me in a headlock& choking me until I could barely breathe.
That was not a pleasant moment.
The same young man drilled me all day long on everything political, historical & Biblical.
In my opinion, he's flirting with atheism... so our conversations were difficult.
As I sat there trying my best to defend God & everything that He is...
that young man sat there trying to make me feel pathetic, stupid & wrong.
To make matter worse, He's a Pastor's son.

By the end of that day I was brought to tears & exhausted.
I was so discouraged because, once again, I felt like nothing was going right.
I had been talking to my parents & feeling like all of this was pointless.
I remember thinking "I'm obviously not called to foreign mission work..."
My parents, & Brandon, encouraged me to remain strong in the Lord & to seek Him even more. So that's what I did. I began reading the Bible, a lot, & praying... a lot.
There were times where I would go for 2-3 hours at a time just praying & reading scripture.
If I had a spare moment, I was praying & reading.
I was trying to fully saturate myself with God.
The enemy was pulling all stops... but I wanted to show satan that the more he tried to mess with me, the more he tried to beat me down, the more he tried to discourage me & pull me away from God... the closer he would push me TO God, the more he would make me LOVE God, the more that I would TRUST God.

Brandon & I have been studying through 1st & 2nd Corinthians together while I'm here on my trip.. that way we're still on the same page spiritually. I'm so thankful, too. God has used those passages to help me in so many ways!

One particular was:
1st Corinthians 4:12
"....When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly...."

As Christians, we ARE going to be persecuted, we ARE going to be cursed, we ARE going to be talked about... but through a relationship with the Lord, we have the ability to respond to those trials differently. When someone is cruel to us, we're equipped to see through the eyes of Christ, through the eyes of love, & choose to deal in a Christ-like manner.
Another thing I've noticed is that we have this mentality at times that Christianity is, figuratively speaking, some sort of a pill that we swallow resulting in a perfect, painless life. We think that because we "say a little prayer" (& for all of you "wiser" people... don't start singin' that song :P) we're now going to live lives without any burden or heartache or pain. Where does it ever suggest that in the Bible? If I remember correctly, I re-call scripture saying things such as:

-Matthew 7:14 "But small is the gate&narrow the road that leads to life, & only a few find it."
- Matthew 16:24 "...."If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
-

None of those things, personally, sound easy or painless... but here we sit, thinking this is what will happen. Then, when trials do come, we find ourselves blaming God. We point the finger at Him & wrongfully place blame. It's always crazy to me how, in most cases, the minute a Christian is going through something... their first question is "Why are you doing this, God?". We call His name into question the moment we can... but I always think, do you not remember that there is light AND darkness? Why are you not questioning satan? Why is he getting off so easy? Part of that is because we have a lack of understanding the might, power & glory of our most precious Savior. We've amplified satan, making him appear much bigger than he is... & we've belittled God, feeling like He's not able to truly help us when we're in need. We need to realize, myself fully included, that trials WILL arise in our lives... but now we're able to cast our cares upon the Lord (Psalms 55:22). Instead of having to go through things on our own... we now have God to help us through things. To be our strength... to be our comfort.

Sometimes, things don't work out the way we'd like for them to... but you know what? Life is not about US. We do not live to seek our own desires & wants... but instead we were created to worship & glorify Christ! We were created to be the hands & feet of God. We were created to (as Matthew 28:19 says) "...go & make disciples of ALL nations..."
All are called & all are created for this purpose. The revelation of this encouraged me more than you can imagine & completely shifted my trip, mindset.. & though it may sound a bit dramatic: life. It's always amazing to me how I can be so overwhelmed by a situation & feel at a complete loss... then I read a scripture & it's truly like 1st Corinthians 3:16&17 says;

"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit & where the Spirit of the Lord is, THERE IS FREEDOM!"

The Bible is the living word of God, He declared all of it's content to be... so when you're going through something... reading it can & will totally transform what had previously been burdening you. Through Matt. 28:19, I realized that I was indeed called to mission work, I was indeed called to Romania, God did indeed have a plan: That plan is to spread His truth to ALL people. I was created to do that. To glorify HIM & help guide others to His truth that will set them free!

When I was struggling with attack from the enemy, I'm going to be honest, my first response was "Why God?.. Why are you not using me?"
I fell into the trap I have seen so clearly for years... but at times, in the midst of battle, your senses are jolted into disarray & the intensive training you'd received leaves your brain before you even know what's happening.

Through prayer & conversation with Brandon & my family I was pushed, Praise God!, into asking Him "What needs to change? What needs to happen?" instead of "Why are you doing this to me?"
I was pushed into the right lighting where I saw things for what they were...
The enemy. NOT God.

Perspective is crucial with anything we do.
The way we view things can completely change the outcome of a situation.
Instead of responding & viewing things as the world would... we should strive to do as Christ does, love as Christ does & imitate the model He's so perfectly outlined.

"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, & of love & of a sound mind."
-2nd Timothy 1:7

Maintaining a sound mind is imperative when dealing with the enemy.
You must be on your guard, attentive & prepared.
If you begin to allow the spirit of fear to come in & take hold of you... you'll be overtaken in a matter of minutes. Fear means to be void of faith.
Wow, what a statement.
When I am fearful of something, no matter how great or small, I am actually saying to God,
"I don't think you're big enough for this."
What a slap in the face.
I never want to slap God in the face, I never want to make Him feel like I don't think He's capable of changing my situations.
God is a big, good, loving, just God. He loves you & desires the best for you. If you believe that, it's time to start living like you did.
(It's time I started living like I did...)

Throughout this trip I've been forced to rely on God, no...let me re-phrase.
I've been given amazing opportunities to allow God to take control.
It's hard, at times, to allow God to be the one taking the lead. We have a tendency to want to control things ourselves... so when we have to release it feels strange & tough... but oh the blessings that come with surrender & obedience!

When we let God take complete control of our lives, He does bigger & greater things than we could have ever done on our own ...or even dreamed! Yes, we are capable of living our lives, making decisions & doing the things that we desire... but as it says in Psalms 16:11.. . We find our fullness of joy in the Lord. Our TRUE happiness comes from Him!
I don't know about you, but I don't want to simply be happy... I want to be contagiously joyful! I want to have the Holy Spirit within me so strongly that simply by being around me people feel moved. I want to have the genuine love of the Lord within me so that by simply smiling people feel His encompassing love. I want to live for something bigger than myself, for something beyond my own abilities.
Some may ask how I know God's real & am willing to serve Him at the capacity at which I do...
The truth is, I have no equation. I can't give you a test tube which contains the proof of His existence... But I love knowing that God is bigger than man's understanding, I love knowing that the God I serve, the ONE true God, is bigger than a test tube or scientific experiment.
The Lord has revealed Himself to me in countless ways, countless times & that alone is proof for me. I don't have to know everything... all I'm called to do is have faith & trust in His unfailing love. The kind that faced the grave to cover my sins so that I may freely & openly serve Him with an undignified faithfulness!

I'm choosing to serve God with a radical abandonment. I desire HIS will & wants above my own... but through communion with Him, His will & wants become my own, so it's a win:win situation!

I encourage you to rethink the next time you're in a situation that isn't going as you'd like. Don't blame Him for everything... trust Him with everything.
Don't ever feel like you weren't called to mission work (foreign or not) or ministry... realize that you were not only called to it... you were created for it!
:)

-Taylor

Matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

-Romania-

Toothbrush: Check. Passport: Check. Laptop: Check.
My mind was running 90 to nothing on Aug. 1st... trying to go over the many, many things I knew I needed for my trip. I've always despised packing... but let me just say, trying to pack for a month is the worst! I finally crammed everything into my suitcase, zipped it up & was proud to say "I'm finished"... then I realized...I had yet to weigh my bag. This is where it got fun.

:Me vs. Suitcase:
Round #1:
The maximum weight for a suitcase, when flying, is 50 lbs.. my bag weighed 53.4 lbs.
So, I unzipped my bag & tried to sort through what I could afford to leave behind.
Round #2 began:
I stepped onto the scale again... & alas, I lost round #2 as well. My bag weighed 51.2 lbs!
I, once again, unzipped my bag & pulled even MORE out.
However, Round #3 was a success & *DING DING* I won by a heaping 1 lb!

I thought packing would be the most difficult part of the traveling process... but it was nothing in comparison to saying "Goodbye" & the drive from my house to the airport.

{ In the car on our way to the airport... }

Recently, I've been overwhelmingly blessed with an incredible young man, so I've thoroughly been enjoying getting to spend time with him. I've been excited about this trip for quite sometime... but the sudden, God given relationship made the mission trip seem bittersweet. While I could hardly contain my anticipation & excitement for the trip, I now found myself wanting so badly to stay so I didn't have to leave him. After much prayer, I realized that sometimes the path God takes us down isn't easy but we must be obedient. It's not about US doing what we want... it's about Him being glorified in ALL things! God's really been speaking to me about that topic
( Hopefully I'll have time to post a blog on that, soon!)
Needless to say, He has blessed me silly & I needed to go & be a blessing!
I know God has me right where He wants me. When you live a life covered with His fingerprints & handiwork... it makes everything work out & feel right, in the end. No amount of trouble, mishaps, failures, malfunctions or delays make it bad... you view things differently. You see the beauty in things the world deems "unbearable" & "ugly". You see the world through different eyes... Through the eyes of the Lord.

As I CHOSE (yes it's a choice... not just something that happens) to look through His eyes & do as He desired... I became alright with leaving. Though the leaving was tough, I'm filled with so much joy at the thought of doing the Lord's work... & getting to step off the plane, run into the arms of the most wonderful guy ever & see my loving family again is a joyous thought as well! :)

Speaking of planes- oy. The story of my multiple flights is a tale to tell all on its own!
When I finally got to my gate, in Dallas, I was supposed to meet up with Ray & Mary MacDonald. I had never met them... but, thankfully, had seen a picture of them on Facebook. Hooray for Facebook!

I had yet to spot them, after looking for a while, when they called to board the plane. My heart began to beat faster... my mind was thrust into overdrive as thoughts such as "Oh no, my mom is NOT going to let me travel all the way to Romania by myself."- "Great, I get all the way here & now I can't go!", popped into my head. I called my dad & he told me I needed to find out if they'd boarded yet. I went to the desk to ask & of course I got "that's personal information, we can't tell you" for an answer. As I was nearly brought to tears because I didn't know what to do, the lady who'd helped me at the very beginning walked up. I was able to ask her & she had, praise God, dealt with Ray & Mary as well & had wondered if we were together! Thankfully, she was able to help me locate them on the plane!
I was, once again, reminded that God is in control & I don't need to worry about such trivial things... He is faithful to the faithful & does not set us up for failure!

{ A photo I snapped while flying into London :)  }

Once we landed in London, we had a two hour layover. Mr.Ray was having problems with his leg & was taken to the gate in a wheelchair while Mrs.Mary & I were told we couldn't go with him but instead had to go through security.
We managed to make it through the craziness & were told what our gate number was.
Gate B36 was in another building... so we loaded the indoor tram & then trekked to the gate. I sat down to take a breather... the airport is no place for out of shape people! haha
However, the moment I sat down I heard Mrs.Mary yelling for me to come! I rushed over to her & found out that they'd given us the wrong gate number & we had to go back through security & into another building... unless we wanted to go through a long hallway to skip the security checkpoint. Of course we wanted to skip it, so we ran... & ran... & ran... down stairs, through deserted hallways, over peoples toes (Don't even get me started on the elevator situation..). It was quite an..adventure. Yes, we'll call it that. Ha! Once we did finally arrive, we made it with a little less than 10 minutes to spare. Mrs.Mary & I were horribly sweaty & smelly... but we were at least there!
I will never forget that... or sitting in the plane trying to freshen up by rubbing hand sanitizer all over us!

The trip had hardly started & I was already beat & filled with stories! Sitting on the plane I couldn't help but think of all the stories that I would acquire in the month ahead. I was hopeful & excited!

We boarded one more plane & then finally, & safely, made it to Mrs.Gail's beautiful home.
After eating a warm bowl of hot potato soup, we went to sleep after over 24 hours of pure travel/layover time. The sleep was sorely needed... & boy, was I sore. ;)

I hope you've enjoyed reading my lengthy, schizophrenic attempt of a blog.
I will be posting, Lord willing, about the multiple camps & other things, soon!
God Bless!

-Taylor-
:)